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ILSP Program News

The International Legal Studies core faculty includes respected scholars with expertise in key areas of international law who are frequently called upon by national and international media to comment on current events.

With the support of the International Legal Studies Program, 3L students Pete Bauleke and Kourtney Kinsel attended the International Humanitarian Law Dialogues in Chautauqua New York along with Professor Mike Newton from 27 to 29 August. The annual event gathers prosecutors from the extant international war crimes tribunals along with academic experts from around the globe. Ms. Kinsel served as the Rapporteur for the group of prosecutors as they negotiated the Chautauqua Declaration for this, the 11th Dialogues. Mr. Bauleke assisted the members of the Robert H. Jackson Center who ran the event, and conducted a number of interviews related to his pending paper on reforming U.S. human rights legislation as applied to ongoing military operations. Professor Newton led discussion on the use of modern military commissions.

Professor Michael Newton, who serves as a Senior Peace Fellow for the Public International Law & Policy Group, worked with PILPG Senior Counsel Brianne McGonigle Leyh, who was a visiting fellow at VLS, to develop an innovative set of transitional justice simulations during August 2017. Dr. Leyh is an associate professor at Utrect University, where she directs the Utrecht Center for International Studies. Vanderbilt students field tested the simulations and provided helpful insights for refinements.

The Atlantic: The dangers of arming autocrats - June 13, 2017 - On June 8, while official Washington sat captivated by the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey, a small group of bipartisan senators planned to force a vote on a subject near to official Washington’s heart: arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The article includes a quote from a legal assessment Michael Newton, professor of the practice of law, prepared for the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights on the arms sales.

The Atlantic: The dangers of arming autocrats - June 13, 2017 - On June 8, while official Washington sat captivated by the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey, a small group of bipartisan senators planned to force a vote on a subject near to official Washington’s heart: arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The article includes a quote from a legal assessment Michael Newton, professor of the practice of law, prepared for the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights on the arms sales.

Featuring Professor Michael Newton and Emory Law Professor Laurie R. BlankFor months, Syrian and Russian warplanes have bombed Aleppo, killing and wounding residents. Russian officials have referred to the siege as “diplomacy backed by force.” The US Ambassador to the UN has called it “barbarism.” The US and France have called for a War Crimes investigation, but any meaningful action at the UN has been blocked by Russia’s place on the Security Council. In this Teleforum, two distinguished professors with extensive practical experience examined the status of the siege under the Law of Armed Conflict and International Humanitarian Law.

Time: The big problem with President Trump’s record arms deal with Saudi Arabia - May 22, 2017 - Much of the military hardware from a nearly $110 billion arms deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia will likely be pressed into service in the Saudi fight against its neighbor Yemen, where more than 10,000 people have been killed during two years of heavy airstrikes and fighting. This puts the U.S. in a precarious ethical position, say human rights groups and former U.S. officials. In a legal opinion sent to the U.S. Senate on May 19, the American Bar Association’s Human Rights Center argued that continued arms sales are illegal under American laws that ban sales to states that violate international law. The article quotes the opinion, which was authored by Michael Newton, professor of the practice of law. A related article in The Huffington Post also quotes Newton’s opinion.

Professor Michael Newton joins On Point's Tom Ashbrook for a discussion on President Obama's plan to finally close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Feb. 24, 2016 LISTEN >>

Hydratext: Oral Argument (podcast) - July 25, 2016-Timothy Meyer, professor of law, was interviewed about the impact of the United Kingdom’s Brexit vote to leave the European Union.

International Criminal Justice Today: Opinion: The ICC is indispensable to a Syria solution - May 4, 2016 - Michael Newton, professor of the practice of law, and his fellow members of the American Bar Association’s International Criminal Court (ICC) Project Board of Advisors write that the ICC is a permanent and central part of the international landscape and should be a part of any effort to combat impunity in Syria.

Federalist Society: Mike Lewis Memorial Teleforum—Defining the Laws of War, podcast - January 19, 2016 -Michael Newton, professor of the practice of law, joins a panel of experts to critique the Department of Defense Manual. Does it provide the guidance necessary to troops on the ground, commanders, and all actors in between? How does it address modern warfare, terrorism, and asymmetrical war? How does it define lawful and unlawful belligerents? What does it say about interrogation and detention?

Bloomberg Radiointerviewed Ingrid Wuerth, professor of law, about the U.S. Supreme Court’s first decision of its new term, which ruled a California woman cannot sue Austria’s state-owned national railway system in U.S. courts over an injury she suffered while boarding a train.

Nashville Public Radiointerviewed Ingrid Wuerth, professor of law, about Gov. Bill Haslam’s joining other GOP lawmakers in a move asking federal officials to suspend the resettlement of Syrian refugees to Tennessee following the Paris terrorist attacks.